Making Take Home Activity Bags for your Preschool Class: Continue the Learning Outside the Classroom

Making Take Home Activity Bags for your Preschool Class: Continue the Learning Outside the Classroom
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Preschool take home activity bags are a useful tool that teachers can use to further a child’s interest and knowledge on a subject. These bags can be made for just about any subject being taught. They also help to get the parent more involved in the student’s education. Learn more about incorporating their use into your own classroom.

Note Home

Each activity bag should include a note to the parent. The note should include what is being taught in class, why the bags are being sent home, and how to use the bags. Here is an example of a note home: Dear Parent(s), We have started a new unit in our class, Learning the Alphabet. Students will be learning their letters and letter sounds. This bag contains activities to encourage your child’s interest and ability in learning the alphabet. Have some fun this week with child exploring these preschool take home activity bags.

Learning the Alphabet

The Learning the Alphabet activity bag should be sent home when the class begins learning the alphabet. The activities included in this bag are designed to create an excitement and curiosity about the alphabet.

Website

A wonderful website to further alphabet learning is Worksheets www.starfall.com. The website consists of the alphabet, alphabet sounds, and an alphabet song. It builds children’s interest of the alphabet in a fun way that continues to bring children back to the website over and over again.

Worksheets

Worksheets are needed in this activity bag to help students learn how to write their letters. Free printable worksheets are available at the website mentioned above. Place worksheets from A to Z in the bag. These worksheets will enable parents to show their children how make letters. This activity will help support writing letters in the classroom.

Craft

For the craft, the bag includes the supplies and instructions to make an alphabet bracelet. This bracelet provides a way for students to be constantly reminded of the alphabet. The supplies needed for the bracelet are beads with letters on them and some kind of thick string. Place the beads on the string in order from A to Z. Wrap the string around the child’s wrist, and knot the string.

Game

The game in this bag is “Alphabet Memory.” This game allows students to see and name letters repeatedly. Two sets of alphabet cards are needed in the bag for this activity. This website, https://www.senteacher.org/Worksheet/49/Alphabet.xhtml, contains enjoyable printable alphabet cards. Each alphabet card has an upper and lower case letter on it, plus a picture. To play this game, all the cards are to be face down. A player turns over two cards at a time. If the cards match, the player keeps the cards. If not, the player turns the cards back over, and it is the next players turn. The game concludes when all the matches have been made. This game will improve students’ letter recognition skills.

Knowing My Shapes

The best time to send home this activity bag is when the class starts to learn their shapes. This bag is made to promote students identifying their shapes. It also gives them a better understanding of shapes.

Website

The website for this bag contains games, activity ideas, and video clips for many different subjects. It has great resources for teachers and parents. The website, <strong><strong>pbskids.org/curiousgeorge/games/i_love_shapes/i_love_shapes.html</strong></strong>, provides an entertaining and educational game for students wanting to learn their shapes. Teachers, parents, and students will find this website valuable and appealing.

Worksheets

Preschoolers need to be able to name their shapes as well as draw them. The worksheets on this website, \<strong><strong>https://www.tlsbooks.com/preschoolshapes.htm</strong></strong>, offer students the opportunity to do both. Parents can use these worksheets to review the names of shapes, and assist their students in drawing shapes.

Craft

Shapes are found throughout art made by preschoolers. This craft demonstrates that shapes are needed to create different drawings. For this craft, students use colored pieces of construction paper to make a picture. Materials needed in the bag are: a yellow circle, a brown triangle, a red rectangle, 2 small blue squares, and a piece of manila paper. The child glues the shapes to the manila paper to make a sun and a house.

Game

This game is a fun way for children to remember the names of shapes. The materials needed in the bag for this game are shapes cut out of colored poster board. This game is called, “Name That Shape.” To play this game, the player pulls a shape out of the bag, without looking, and names the shape he pulled out of the bag.

Animal Fun

Give each child an Animal Fun bag to take home when the animals unit begins. These preschool take home activity bags create and peak children’s interest about animals.

Website

This website, <strong><strong>https://funschool.kaboose.com/preschool/amazing-animals</strong></strong>, is full of fun games that make kids want to visit it. There are several animal games on this website. These games will keep kids thinking and wanting more animals. There are also coloring sheets available on this website.

Worksheets

There are many animal worksheets available on the Internet. The website above contains free printable animal coloring worksheets. To find other worksheets search “animal worksheets for preschoolers.” There are plenty of worksheets to choose from. These worksheets provide children with an enjoyable activity and a reminder of what they are learning in school.

Craft

Preschoolers love to hear and talk about animals. A different and interesting way for students to learn about animals is by examining animal footprints. For this craft, a pattern of a bird foot, bear claw, and horse hoof has to be cut out of a piece of poster board. Place these patterns along with construction paper in the bag. Each child will trace the patterns onto the construction paper and cut them out. Then the student will have his own animal footprints.

Game

The game uses the craft mentioned above, and allows the child to explore. This game is called “Animal Hunt.” The parent hides the footprints, and the child looks for them. These game helps to generate more of a desire to learn about animals.

Preschool take home activities bags are a valuable instrument. These bags aide the teacher in boosting interest and emphasize the subject being taught. If used properly, these bags are a vital tool to enhance students’ learning experience.